Jurys

International Selection Short films

Marc-Benoît Créancier, producer

After training as a dancer at the Paris Opera and then as an actor, Marc-Benoît Créancier earned a master’s degree in cinema before going on to study production at La Fémis where he earned his degree in 2010. While pursuing his studies, he produced his first short for Dharamsala entitled C’est gratuit pour les filles by Claire Burger and Marie Amachoukeli, which was awarded a César in 2010. In 2011, he created Easy Tiger with Jessica Rosselet and produced approximately 20 shorts including Sur la route du paradis by Houda Benyamina, Superman n’est pas juif (et moi un petit peu…) by Jimmy Bemon and Morgan Simon’s first films. Divines by Houda Benyamina, which won the Caméra d’Or at the 2016 Festival de Cannes and nominated at the Golden Globes, was the first feature that he produced.

Maximilian Feldmann, director

Maximilian Feldmann was born in Berlin in 1985. He shot his first documentary portrait in 2005 during his Voluntary Social Year in Ecuador. This was followed by several traineeships at film and TV productions. Between 2007 and 2015, he studied Documentary Filmmaking at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. His graduation project Valentina premiered at 66th Berlinale and won several international awards whom the Jury’s Special Prize, the Public’s Prize and the Amnesty International France Prize at the Poitiers Film Festival 2016. He works as a director and author for both fictional and non-fictional productions.

Vladimir de Fontenay, director

Vladimir de Fontenay was born in Paris in 1987. His first feature entitled Mobile Homes was adapted from his short, which was selected in numerous festivals and was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2017. He also directed What Lies Beneath the Sky with the voice of Chantal Akerman, which was screened at the Tribeca Festival, and co-directed Memoria with Keith Stanfield and James Franco. A graduate of the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Vladimir is a laureate of the Spike Lee Production Fund and a MacDowell Colony Fellow.

Fanny Sidney, actress

Fanny Sidney studied in the Classe Libre (Free class) of the Cours Florent before entering the directing department at La Fémis. She wrote, directed and starred in several short films while she was a student, alongside her acting career. In 2008, she was featured in Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1, Populaire starring Romain Duris, Breathe by Mélanie Laurent and Hippocratesby Thomas Lilti. She also starred in series like Hard, in which she played Violette,Casting(s) by Pierre Niney and Call my Agent! in which she plays the part of Camille Valentini, assistant at the actors’ agency. She is currently working on her first feature film, inspired from her research work in hypnosis, a field of study that she practises in Paris.

Élie Wajeman, director

Elie Wajeman trained in cinema and drama studies before joining the scriptwriting department of La Fémis, which he graduated from in 2008. His first feature film, Alyah, starring Adèle Haenel and Pio Marmaï, was selected by the Directors’ Fortnight in 2012. His second feature, Les Anarchistes, with Adèle Exarchopoulos, Tahar Rahim and Swann Arlaud, opened the Critics’ week in 2015. Thanks to this film, Swann Arlaud, whom the festival dedicates its “Itinéraire” (“career path”) to this year, was nominated for the César award for Most Promising Actor. He also directed two episodes of the second season of Canal + flagship series Le Bureau des légendes is now in production for his third feature, Nuit des Rois.

French syndicate of cinema critics

Thomas Fouet, Pascal Le Duff, Anne-Laure Bell.

The student jury

International Selection – Feature films

Isabelle Danel, journalist

A journalist specialized in cinema, Isabelle Danel worked in magazines such as Télérama, Rolling Stone orPremière and has been writing for Version Fémina, Les Fiches du Cinéma and Bande à part. She also wrote the children’s novel Ma belle-mère est une sorcière (published at L’École des Loisirs), contributed to L’Année du Cinéma (Calmann-Lévy) and wrote En haut des marches le cinéma (Les Carnets de l’Info), Conversation avec Robert Guédiguian (Scrinéo), Marilyn Monroe de A à Z (Tana), Bluwal pionnier de la télévision (Scrinéo). Since June 2013, she has been President of the French syndicate of cinema critics.

Hannah Horner, sales and festival manager, Doc&Film

After studying Cinema and Media at the Sorbonne and Brighton University, Hannah Horner has worked as a Production Assistant at Lazennec Productions on Samuel Collardey’s film Little Lion. She then moved on to International Sales at Doc&Film International where she first worked as Festival Manager before also taking on the role of Sales Manager. She has since worked with director’s such as Oscar nominated Gianfranco Rosi, Frederick Wiseman, Martin Provost and Jacques Doillon.

Thierry Laurentin, sales director Mars Films

Born near Poitiers, he had a long career in the media before devoting himself to films. Under the label Mars Films, first independent distributor, he helped release more than 300 films as diverse as Of Gods and Men, La Famille Bélier or the Oscar-winning Moonlight. He also teaches film at the ESRA and published the essay Rêveries d’un cinéphile engagé (Dreams of a committed film-lover– Published by Éditions Indigènes/Harmonia Mundi).

So French!

Karim Allag, Agence du court métrage

Alexandre Clérisse, illustrator

Julie Duclos, theatre director

L’Agence du court métrage

Ever since 1983, the Agence du court métrage (Short film agency) has been a central actor in the distribution of short films. A place for scouting and uncovering new talents and for laying the groundwork for new distribution markets, the Agency is dedicated to working alongside directors, producers and distributors. Our primary missions include distributing and managing our catalogue with 12,000 titles to date; communicating through Bref magazine (brefcinema.com) and the development of educational initiatives; and accompanying industry professionals, especially through filmfestplatform.com to facilitate film registration for member festivals.